Mitch McConnell to Dems: ‘Forget About Trump’ and Jump On Tax Reform Train

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is making a public plea for Democrats to join the GOP push for tax reform — and painting their opposition to the framework released two weeks ago as more about resistance to President Trump than ideological disagreement over the shape of the tax plan.

“Here in the Senate, the need for tax reform is loudly supported by Democrats — or at least it was, until the last election,” McConnell writes in a Wednesday op-ed at NBC News. “Now, Democrats are under pressure from the left to oppose just about everything President Donald Trump touches — even ideas they themselves used to promote.”

McConnell argues that tax reform “is not about cutting taxes for some fat cat” and counters criticisms that the existing blueprint would disproportionately benefit the wealthy by arguing that Democrats are “predetermining the details of a final tax bill that has not yet been written.”

In August, all but three Senate Democrats signed a letter to Trump, McConnell and Sen. Orrin Hatch, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, saying they wanted any tax legislation to go through regular order, meaning a bipartisan committee process, rather than the fast-track path Republicans have chosen to be able to pass a bill with a simple majority. The Democrats also insist that they will not support any plan that cuts taxes on the top 1 percent of earners or that increases the deficit.

As editor in chief, Yuval Rosenberg oversees all aspects of The Fiscal Times' website and email newsletter. His writing has appeared in publications including BusinessWeek, CNBC.com, CNNMoney.com, Fast Company, Fortune, Newsweek, Money and Time.